Legacy Trail
The Land Between
Depending on where you are from, you may find yourself standing on an unfamiliar and unique geological feature. Although uncommon in Ontario, rock barrens are widespread throughout Kawartha Highlands. Rock barrens are characterized by swaths of bare rock adorned with mosses and lichens, and patches of stunted vegetation. The rock barrens of Kawartha Highlands can be found at towering heights, while straddling deep lakes, coursing streams, rich wetlands, and mature forests. Rock barrens are prevalent here because this area sits between the transition zone of two major geological formations in Ontario: the granitic bedrock of the Precambrian shield and the limestone plains of the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands. This transition zone, also referred to as ‘The Land Between’, is responsible for a mosaic of rock barren habitats that provide Kawartha Highlands with some of the highest levels of biodiversity in Ontario.
To the surprise of many, the rock barrens of Kawartha Highlands are home to the Common five-lined skink – Ontario’s only lizard species. Although skink populations have declined drastically in some areas of southwestern Ontario, Kawartha Highlands boasts an incredible number of these often brightly-coloured reptiles. This is due to the extensive network of rock barrens that can be found across much of the entire park, which provides high-quality habitat for these sun-loving lizards.
Another unique species that relies on Kawartha Highlands’ rock barren habitats is the Eastern Whip-poor-will. Eastern Whip-poor-wills are nocturnal, insect-eating birds that nest and forage in areas where rock barrens meet wetlands and mature forests. Although populations of this bird are declining in many parts of North America, they are common here. If you have ever spent a night under the stars in Kawartha Highlands during late spring or early summer, you may have been kept awake by their loud and seemingly endless calling: “Whip-poor-will! Whip-poor-will! Whip-poor-will!”.
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